MONTREAL, April 17 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today launched a major
promotion to mark Aeroplan's 25th anniversary in 2009 by making an additional
250,000 seats available this year for Aeroplan members to redeem reward
travel. The quarter of a million more seats for reward travel on Air Canada
and Jazz flights represents the equivalent total seats of more than 700
wide-body Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, the most recent state-of-the-art addition
to Air Canada's fleet, seating 349 passengers.
"Air Canada is delighted to offer the gift of reward travel to so many
more of our most loyal and valued customers," said Ben Smith, Air Canada's
Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. "We have seen Aeroplan
evolve over the past 25 years to become Air Canada's single largest retail
client. What better way to celebrate the great value that Aeroplan, Canada's
premier loyalty program, brings to Air Canada and our customers."
"This is exciting news for our members and yet another great way to
celebrate Aeroplan's 25th anniversary," said Craig Landry, Aeroplan's Senior
Vice President, Partnerships and Rewards. "Only Air Canada and Aeroplan,
through the power of our unique and strong partnership, can bring such
unprecedented value to Canadian consumers."
All Air Canada seats purchased by Aeroplan for reward travel redemption
by their members are available on flights operated by Air Canada and Jazz.
These additional seats, over and above what is already available for Aeroplan
members, are available for reward travel until December 13, 2009, in both
economy and business class cabins including Executive Class in North America
and Executive First on international flights.
About Air Canada:
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Montréal-based Air Canada provides scheduled and charter air
transportation for passengers and cargo to more than 170 destinations on five
continents. Canada's flag carrier is the 14th largest commercial airline in
the world and serves 33 million customers annually. Air Canada is a founding
member of Star Alliance, providing the world's most comprehensive air
transportation network for Canadian domestic, transborder and international
travel. Air Canada aircraft offer customers individualized seatback in-flight
entertainment systems with hundreds of hours of digital audio-visual
entertainment. As well, customers can collect Aeroplan miles for future awards
through Canada's leading loyalty program. In 2008, the readers of Business
Traveler magazine voted Air Canada "Best In-Flight Services in North America,"
"Best Airline for Business Class Service in North America" and "Best North
American Airline for International Travel."
About Aeroplan:
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Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2009, Aeroplan, Canada's premier
loyalty program, is owned by Groupe Aeroplan Inc., a leading international
loyalty management corporation. Aeroplan's millions of members earn Aeroplan
Miles with its growing network of over 70 world-class partners, representing
more than 150 brands in the financial, retail, and travel sectors. In 2008,
over 2 million rewards were issued to members including more than 1.5 million
round-trip flights on Air Canada and Star Alliance carriers which offer travel
to more than 900 destinations worldwide. In addition to flights, members also
have access to over 600 exciting specialty, merchandise, hotel, car rental and
experiential rewards. For more information about Aeroplan, please visit
www.groupeaeroplan.com or www.aeroplan.com.